He is home schooled, @HRSMom
If OP is homeschooling in NY, she’s his GC. If it were my son, I’d call.
Yes, thats all correct. Its also often a good idea for the student to call directly.
You are right. Forgot that !
Congrats to your son on his many acceptances! Wonderful that he has so many great choices. I think his future career goals should somewhat influence the decision, especially if he is going to a smaller school. I can speak to RIT and Ithaca. As @compmom mentioned, RIT is a techy school (but great for artist kids, too!). RIT has great engineering majors, and is also known for their design and photography programs. Ithaca is a strong music school, and also strong for journalism and health sciences. I don’t know many kids that have gone to Bard or Hampshire. Other posters have praised U of R. Stay on the waitlist and see what happens. If he gets into Cornell, he would do well there. It’s a big school but everyone finds their niche (and tribe) pretty quickly and there are so many fascinating choices for courses and majors! All the kids that I have known that have gone to Cornell have loved it. Good luck with the decision and let us know what happens on Ivy Day.
I’m a Cornell graduate and the parent of a Cornell graduate. My daughter and I both liked Cornell very much and had good experiences there (very different good experiences, as it happens).
Your son might not feel as comfortable at Cornell. There is a certain relentless pre-professionalism about most Cornell students that might not be to his taste. And at least in some academic fields, Cornell is highly competitive. Your son would probably find his niche (most Cornell students do), but it might be a small one.
Cornell is also very big, and although the university goes out of its way to help students feel at home–especially incoming freshmen or those who are having difficulties, life at Cornell can feel very impersonal at times. Given your illness and the stresses it likely places on your son, that might be an issue.